Unidentified and Unyeilding
by Kanrei
Summary: Sai, Ogata and Hikaru are aquaintances on NetGo, and together they'll revolutionize the Go world (literally)... A world where Hikaru learnt to play igo through the internet and through his grandfather, hiding behind the handle 'Kou'...Unconfident and unaware, a storm is brewing both in the go association and on the net.
1. Chapter 1

**AN** : I don't really know how to write stories but I'm going to give it a shot. I hope I don't bore anyone... Also I welcome any tips or ways to improve my writing!

 **Synopsis:** Sai, Ogata and Hikaru are aquaintances on NetGo, and together they'll revolutionize the Go world (literally)... A world where Hikaru learnt to play igo through the internet and through his grandfather, hiding behind the handle 'Kou'. Unconfident and unaware, a storm is brewing both in the go association and on the net.

* * *

As a child, Hikaru's parents were never really home. He remembered his father came home once or twice a week, while his mother came home every night for dinner but would be gone before Hikaru woke up. Due to this, he was often left at his grandparents' house during the day or even for weeks on end depending on the time of year. He barely remembered what his address was, and he could not recall the color of his father's car. He couldn't recall the brand of ricecooker that was in the kitchen, nor could he recall what his mother liked to eat. He had been away from his parents and his home for so long that it was no wonder he took after his grandfather, somewhat in personality and in tastes.

His grandfather's name was Shindou Heihachi and was currently in his sixties judging from appearances alone. He loves his cat, his wife and his grandson, and he did not own a car as he commutes by public transport. Hikaru thinks he knows more about his grandfather than he knows about his parents or even his classmates. Personally he thinks it's the perks of being a borderline shut-in, but his grandfather told him the word was 'introvert'; someone who prefers to think to themselves over running around and playing soccer with friends; someone who prefers to interact with those they're already close to as opposed to floating around and introducing themselves to new people. Hikaru was inclined to agree. He didn't really hate his classmates, nor did he find them particularly annoying per se, but he couldn't find the courage nor necessity to approach them out of the blue. When his classmates chatted at each others desks at lunchtime, Hikaru merely looked out the window or slept. If he had received homework for the day, he would try finish it while the other students were loitering around or participating in club activites.  
He would rather not do it at home though. He wouldn't make his grandfather wait all day for nothing.

There was one thing he looked forward to each day as he pushed open the wooden doors and took off his shoes at the entrance. His grandfather's house was quite the traditional one, despite being in the middle of Tokyo; a city famed for its moderness and fast paced lifestyle. The doors were either made of wood, bamboo or paper, and the outlook of the house made one imagine a dojo. In many ways, you could say the Japanese culture was quite strong.

Stepping up into the house Hikaru made his way towards the kitchen popping his head around the corner to mutter a quick "Tadaima" to his grandmother before sliding the shogi doors that led to the living room.

*paku*

*paku*

Dull sounds of stones on wood entered Hikaru's ears as he slid the door closed behind him. He left his bag at the side of the door before heading to the middle of the room.

"Jii-chan, why are you using the foldable board when we have a kaya board? Don't tell me your knees are going bad this early?"

Inside the room Hikaru's sight was met with his grandfather snuggled up under the warmth of a kotatsu, eyes focused on the foldable go board placed on the table. Both the black and white stone goke were placed on the floor to his right while an intricate pattern of monochromic stones could be seen taking form on the wooden grid.

 _Ahh, it's looks like one of Sai's games_ , Hikaru concluded after a glance.

"Ah Hikaru, you're back! Quick quick, get under so we can play a game! I need to take back my winning streak!"

Quickly abandoning the game he was recreating Shindou Heihachi gave no sign of suprise and signalled his grandson over. His left hand waving him over while his right began to recollect the stones. Hikaru hurried over, pulling up the thick fabric of the kotatsu and sitting crossed legged beneath the warmth. He reached for the white stone goke and pulled it over to his side before helping his grandfather in returning the stones. Using his knuckles he tapped the board a little, and he listened to the flat sound plain wood before giving a slight cringe.

"Why aren't we using the kaya board? This sounds like wet cardboard and...urgh...and the hinge is crooked too"

Normally, he and his grandfather would pull out the kaya board from the storage room, which his grandfather had left in attic for ages, but that was before Hikaru managed to convince him that the superstitions attached to the board were ridiculous, and the board soon became their board of choice. Clearly Hikaru prefered the 'haunted' board far more than the foldable one that was set up on the kotatsu, and the neglected kaya board at the side of the room poked at his heart.

"'Cos we're in the middle of winter you idiot. The kaya board can wait till summer! The ground is cold and this old man's bones will go bad if I don't use the Kotatsu!"

 _Jii-chan...I know your bones are fine. Just admit that you just want to use the kotatsu!_

Seemingly noticing he wasn't convincing anyone he started again.

"A-and besides, I don't want to hear from someone who has replaced the the go board with a computer! Wet cardboard beats clicking noises anyday!"

"H-hey! Isn't Jii-chan the one who introduced netgo to me!? You replaced it first!"

"I just wanted you to play people other than me since you won't come with me to the salon!"

"The salon is full of smoke and weird smells! And I don't want to pay to play go!"

 _Or to be paid for that matter._

"You're not even the one paying! And where do you think the wifi comes from!?"

"Obviously from th-mnphh"

He was cut off when something flat and crispy was shoved into his mouth. Taking a bite, he realised it was his grandmother's homemade senbei.

A basket of freshly fried senbei was placed beside the go board, followed by a small pile of baking paper so that one's hands wouldn't get oily while eating. That's right, Ojii-chan's favourite food is naturally Obaa-chan's senbei... Hikaru thought, nibbling on the rest of the crunchy snack.

"While riling up Karu-chan is fun and all, don't you have a game to play?" Hikaru's grandmother asked while entering the kotatsu as well. Although she too, could play go, unlike both her grandson and husband, she found it quite satisfying to simply watch a game between her family than play herself. Between the three of them, her role was more of a scorekeeper than a competitor.

"So let's see...currently Karu-chan is in the lead by about 563 games..." she muttered, flipping the page of her small notebook.

* * *

Ever since he got into igo, Hikaru fell into the routine of prioritising his time. And thankfully as a first year student at Haze High, he didn't have to take any career impacting examinations yet, nor was there stacks of homework each day as long as he doesn't leave it to pile up. Perhaps it's due to the determination to understand what the teacher's explaining the first time round that he is able to finish homework quite quickly, opening plenty of free time afterschool and after dinner. Hikaru tends to save the afterdinner slot for netgo.

During Hikaru's go learning slump in primary school it was through his grandfather's urging that he made an account of NetGo. As its name suggests, it was basically a way to play igo through the internet, challenge players across the net, and also discuss go related issues. At first, it brought upon more harm than good, as there were plenty of users that didn't hold back the insults or liked to instill their authority as the better player, but eventually NetGo became a crucial part of his daily routine. The idea of going into a game expecting to lose, and shortening the time in which he can recognise when to resign was drilled into him through thousands of losses, and it's only due to his love of studying Shuusaku's games that he realised that when you couldn't find the necessity to resign, you might as well go for the win. It was hard to come by a kifu where Shuusaku was pushed in the corner after all, and Hikaru made it a habit to get into Shuusaku's shoes and figure out what he was thinking when he made certain moves. He also tried to figure out how a game was played in old and unnumbered kifu scans. To him, looking at Shuusaku's kifu was like witnessing the creation of a new galaxy. Discovering the meaning of enigmatic moves was like uncovering new techniques, figuring out how a game was played was like understanding the workings of a genius, and all in all, just studying Shuusaku's kifu made him realise that just sometimes, learning could be fun.

However learning something new was by no means easy. And it's for that reason that he adored new users on NetGo rather than the veterans. It was the will to learn and improve that fascinated Hikaru. The outcome wasn't necessarily important, and he was well aware that no matter how hard people work, there were always those they could never catch up to. The problem with learning something new, is that without an adequate teacher, you would be uncertain whether you're following the correct process for improvement. Hikaru was greatful to his grandfather for teaching him the basics of go, but he was by no means an amazing teacher. There were limits to how simply writing down the rules and crushing you in games with no mercy could help you grow, and gradually Hikaru turned to the internet.

On the laptop, the NetGo server consisted of an anonymous system forum, the game server and a chat on the sidebar. The forum wasn't something Hikaru looked at often, but occasionally some pretty good game discussions would take place there, and it made Hikaru wonder whether it was a similar experience to a study group. In the news section of the forum, timetables for pro games or events in the go world would be posted by the administrators. Since Hikaru's grandfather was suscribed to weekly go, he had no need to check those threads either. His grandfather had a habit of running his mouth everytime he read something exciting. So what he reads, everyone reads.

Personally, Hikaru prefered the mobile app version of NetGo as there were no constant movements on the screen. The sidebar which held the chat was to be hidden to save space. And it was precisely for that reason that Hikaru didn't know people watched his games until middle school. He remembered opening the sidebar tab on his phone by accident, and then his phone suddenly froze from the sudden influx of comments. It didn't match up to the fuss when the Sai first started NetGo but nevertheless, it was quite enlightening. He made a mental note to never open the sidebar again. He liked his phone functioning properly thank you very much.

Taking out his smartphone and keeping his fingers as far from the sidebar tab as possible, Hikaru entered his usual routine. First was to check if any of his friends were online. Although the term 'friend' was thrown around quite easily on the net, the people who he registered as friends on NetGo were people truly wanted to be friends with. This list was fairly short however, and the scrollbar on the side was greyed out as there were not enough names for the page to need scrolling. His list consisted of six names. One of which was his grandfather. Of course Jii-chan's handle was glowing a faint aqua, he was using the laptop under the kotatsu after all, but he was suprised that the name Sai was also dyed in the same color.

 _Huh, that's strange. Doesn't he usually eat out with his friend at this time..._

Sai was somewhat of an international celebrity on NetGo, or at least back when he was still anonymous and crushing both pros and ameteurs left and right. It was mere chance that the two got a game against one another, and Sai's polite yet cheerful conversations were a far cry from the bullying he recieved from the other players at the time. The two bonded after seeing each others play styles, and while the inexperience could be seen in Hikaru's go, Sai's go could be seen as a replica of Shuusaku's go, only with a modern twist. Both styles were given birth to by Shuusaku's old joseki, and it wouldn't be wrong to call the joseki 'brothers'. Naturally, Sai's go was far more developed than Hikaru's at the time, which Sai believed was a sign that he was the elder brother. How Sai's mind worked, Hikaru would never know.

 **Sai:** Kou-chan konbanwa! o(*´▽｀*)o You're early today!

 _I get on this time every day! You're the one that's early!_ ...were his thoughts, but Sai was older than him both go wise and in age so he couldn't be rude.

 **Kou:** Sai-nii, konbanwa. You didn't eat out today?

 **Sai:** Ahh~ I'm so happy to have a little brother! Father would be so proud! (＞＜)  
And I'm actually on my phone at a restaurant.

 _Wa-wait, stop right there! Did you just call Shuusaku 'Father'..._

 **Kou:** Oh how strange, Sai-nii using his phone. And is it really okay to call Shuusaku-sensei 'Father' ∑(;´ v｀)

 **Sai:** My food hasn't come yet and my friend started eating without me（｀Δ´）！  
I'm in the process of ignoring him, so I took out my phone. Here, I'll show you.

 ** _Sai_ has sent an image**

The image showed a blonde man wearing rectangle framed glasses casually cutting what looked like steak. Hikaru didn't imagine Sai's friend to be such a strict looking person but hey, looks could be decieving... _though he kind of looked familiar._

 **Kou:** Ahh! Are you really alright with revealing personal details with me...But you're right. He looks like he is enjoying your suffering...but the good thing is, he'll have to watch you enjoy your meal too! (＾ｖ＾)

 **Sai:** Ohhh you're right! And my food is here! I'll tell you how it goes later! Btw, did you watch Ogata-san's game?

 **Kou:** Err no, I don't really watch TV and the kifu hasn't been printed in Go Weekly yet. Why? Was it a good game? And enjoy your food! I'm going to play a few games (´・ω・｀)

Speaking of Ogata-sensei, Jii-chan mentioned that he seemed like a serious person. I wonder if Sai has played him before...with such offhand thoughts, Hikaru switched to the game server tab.

According to Sai, when he first joined NetGo, the game requests windows flooded his screen to the point his computer almost crashed. Due to this, the administrators made it so that only the first twenty or so requests would be delivered while the rest were denied. Although the situation was eeriely similar to his game comment/chat incident, Hikaru was pretty sure his popularity was nowhere near that of a pro such as Sai would have. Sure, he received twenty or so game requests, but surely if the administrators retracted the game request update, he would recieve no more than thirty requests. And considering how there are millions of players registered on NetGo, with many who are eager to find an opponent regardless of skill, twenty to thirty requests was probably not a number to be proud of.

Hikaru scrolled through the list of game requests, silently noting that some of the names belonged to users that he had played before. He was quite amused to find that user _SDHH_ had requested a game when they were both under the same kotatsu.

Finally, he decided to choose a random user from the list and accepted the request from a user named _Hiro86_.

At beginning, Hiro-san seemed to have a style similar to a user name Zelda, making Hikaru question whether he was an insei, but after a few hands in, the ply style started to change and the stones were placed in an erratic pattern. Hikaru couldn't make heads or tales of what this Hiro person was doing, but he did understand that the game wasn't one that where he needed to resign. The player didn't actually have a play style and seemed to be someone who was randomly putting stones without much knowledge of the go aside from the start game. After a few minutes, it became more and more clear that the other party had no idea what he was doing, and the random stones continued until the system declared to winner. Hikaru did like new players so he didn't mind players challenging others without full knowledge of the game. He was like that once, so he could understand that learning through experience was much more effective than trying to understand beginner kifu. Back then, kifu was on the same page as hieroglyphs, so he could relate to what Hiro86-san had done.

Remembering his manners Hikaru opened the private chat between players and typed his usual phrase.

 **Kou:** Thank you for the game

 **Hiro86** : What do you mean by 'thank you'!? You didn't hold back at all! I bet you were still laughing at me when you wrote that! I don't need your 'thanks'!

 **Kou:** I didn't mean it like that! I'm really sorry

 ** _Hiro86_ has logged out**

 _...I really didn't mean it like that...though..._ Hikaru sighed. It had been a while since such a thing had happened, so Hikaru was quite taken back by the suddent outburst. To distract himself, he decided to play another game. Hikaru opened the game request page, and scrolled through the game requests again. As he had accepted Hiro86's request previously, a new request took its place.

 ** _Seiji_ requests a game with you.**

 **-Accept- -Decline-**

* * *

 **Senbei:** Japanese rice cracker snack

 **Kotatsu:** A low square table with a heating system below the tabletop and a quilt that keeps the warmth in

 **Anonymous Forums:** Forum that resembles 2chan, where comments are all made Anonymous (aside from admins I guess)


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thankyou to all those who followed/favorited/reviewed! I honestly did not have much expectation for the hunk of writing that is chapter 1, so i was really suprised! Anyways this is ch2. Handle names are used to refer to their online identities.

Chapter 2

NetGo is the future of igo. That was Juudan Ogata Seiji's honest opinion, and unlike that old coot who liked to talk about sprits or tsunamis, he actually had evidence to back up his claims. Sure the Honinbo had his point, and Touya Akira was in a way, seen as the future of Japanese go, but in his opinion, focusing on insei and 'potential' pros when there were steadily improving title holders in the circuit was just avoiding reality. Ogata wouldn't exactly ignore Akira's presence considering who his father was, but he really didn't seem that big of a deal. Instead, he found more credibility in the potential that was NetGo. It was after all, the place he found his rival.

Look at it this way. Where was the logic in studying ancient kifu alone at home when there were millions of people on the forums who had already studied it and could help discussions or provide insight ? Disregarding the net was the same as scrolling a fifty page essay for the word 'co-operation' when you could use Ctrl+F. Simply ridiculous. Even that Fujiwara, who practically lived in the Heian period, used Netgo. Heck, if it wasn't for Netgo, the go world would have one less pro, one incredibly talented, hyper and Shuusaku idolising pro, but a pro none the less.

Speaking of idolizing...

Ogata put down his knife and fork and turned his sight to the pouting figure beside him.

With a paper fan in one hand and the latest SH7RP smartphone model in the other, one Fujiwara Sai looked ready to flip a table. Oh if looks could kill...well even if it could, he wouldn't die. Fujiwara and kill just don't go together in the same sentence. But anyways, the point was that even after waiting five minutes after recieving his well cooked T-bone steak, there was still no sign of Fujiwara's meal. Well that's what you get for ordering some Japanese sounding meal at a Western restaurant. So as the normal customer Ogata concluded that Fujiwara could suffer alone, and he should eat his meal before it got cold. Hence the current situation.

"Fine! Eat your warm and juicy meat alone. I don't need you, Kou-chan is much nicer than you. Hmpf."

Honestly, standing at a metre eighty, that guy still manages to sound like a kid.

Handle name 'Sai', otherwise known as Fujiwara Sai was a guy with absolutley no knowlege of the times, and severly deficient in technological knowledge to the point that he believed the internet was equivalent to magic. Even now, Ogata still cannot understand how a guy like that managed to become an international Netgo celebrity, but his popularity was nothing to joke about. Fujiwara's netgo account was well know to the point he never had to search for an opponent. They came to him by their own accord. Of course, there were exceptions. One of course was himself, and the other...

"I knew it, Kou-chan will always take my side! Hehe, he called me Sai-nii! Otouto-kun is definitley my cutest little brother!"

The other one was a user who went by the name 'Kou'.

Kou, was in other words, another mystery. Ogata had never played against him nor had he watched any of his games, but he has seen various discussions on the forums that draw linkages between Fujiwara's go and Kou's go. Some even go to the point in assuming Kou was Fujiwara's disciple. Ogata for one knows that wasn't true, because he has never met this 'Kou', and Fujiwara couldn't hide anything even if his life depended on it. What he did know was that Kou had been registered in Fujiwara's friend list before he had even played Sai online, and that Fujiwara considered him somewhat of a surrogate litte brother. Ogata had pointed out the possibility of 'Kou' being older than him, but Fujiwara had been adament that Kou was a kid. Ogata didn't know how good Kou was, but if Fujiwara was right and Kou really was a kid, it would make perfect sense why Fujiwara never saw the threat in Touya Akira unlike the rest of the go world. If Kou really was a kid, then Ogata really didn't want to know what sort of lifestyle the kid lived to be able to reach a level comparable to Sai at such a young age. Do kids nowdays even have a life? Ogata had been pretty normal as a kid, and grew up to like cars and his fish, so he was completly sane, Fujiwara was beyond hope from the beginning, but he had never seen Touya Akira hang out with anyone his own age. Wasn't he like...fifteen or something? Maybe his own image of Akira was a bit biased but he could easily image the kid run after a stranger if he wanted a go game. Just how low is the age requirement for an insei anyways?

At any rate, Kou was a relatively known Netgo resident and the 'younger brother' of Fujiwara's made up family. Seriously, for someone who admires Shuusaku to such an extent, Fujiwara really has no respect for Shuusaku's pride as a legendary player. What normal person would call their idol 'father'!? Sometimes Ogata feels like he should meet this 'Kou' so they can share sentiments about Fujiwara's abnormalness...having such a guy as an older brother must be tough...Kou was usually the one that dealt with Fujiwara when he didn't give him the time of day, so in a way Ogata was rather thankful. But sometimes he thinks that perhaps Kou is a NEET or something. His timing was just too good.

＊snap＊

!?

...wait where are you sending that photo!?

The sudden sound of a camera caused Ogata to narrow his eyes, giving Fujiwara one of his famous glares. Fujiwara ignored him and turned back to his chat with a cheeky smile on his face. Ogata had no doubt the photo was sent to Kou.

Even though he was somewhat used to photos due to the interview for Weekly Go, it didn't mean he appreciated his photo being sent to random people. And knowing Fujiwara, he couldn't assure the photo was even presentable.

"Don't just send a photo of me without my permission"

"Heh, it's payback. But don't worry, Otouto-kun's knowlege of the go world is almost non-existent. I don't think he can recognise many pros by their photos. And besides, Kou has- Ah! Food! Thank you! Sorry for troubling you with such a request"

That is not the point...

Due to the seating, Ogata didn't notice the waitress, but soon enough, a young lady approached their table holding a bowl of what appeared to be Unagi and rice, complete with Miso soup and some side dishes. To think they actually applied with his ridiculous request...he made a note to give them a tip on the way out.

"So this frie- Err...brother of yours...Is he any good?"

Ogata asked.

"Oh? Are you finally interested in Otouto-kun? Even though i remember you saying 'I'm not interested' a few months ago? Hm? Hmmmm?"

Fujiwara's annoying attitude gave Ogata the urge to whack him across the head, but for the sake of his good customer image, he restrained himself. He couldn't even dump him on Kou as Fujiwara had already announced his meal time with a cheerful 'itadakimasu'. That guy really was a kid through and through. Ogata hoped that Kou was more mature if he ever met him, because if not he'd have to consider changing his career to 'babysitter' or something.

"I'm interested in all strong players. I just didn't want to deal with you last time"

"Haaah? That's meeeaaaannn! I'm going to tell Otouto-kun just how mean you are after I finish eating!" Fujiwara huffed. What are you? A grade schooler?

Choosing to ignore Fujiwara for the moment, Ogata took out his own smartphone and opened the Netgo app. On his list of friends, only 'Sai' was dyed a faint turquoise, while the other names which mainly consisted of other pros, remained grey. He also had Akira registered in his friends, but the kid was barely online and Ogata was pretty sure he didn't even know how to operate a smartphone. Out of curiosity, he clicked on Sai's profile and clicked on his list of friends, available for visibility due to having each other on their friend lists. Sure enough, the name 'Kou' was dyed turquoise, while the black go stone beside the name indicated he was in the middle of a game.

"Kou-chan said he was going to play a game while he waited for me to eat so you won't get to play him. As my brother, he probably gets alot of requests too. Give up, he won't play you until I tell him your handle. Hehehe, this is definitley payback" Fujiwara says, somehow already halfway through his meal.

Clucking his tongue in irritation, Ogata just turned back to his phone. It wasn't like he wanted a match. He was just a little curious. Without much thought, Ogata clicked on Kou's profile and opened up his game. The game had quite alot of spectators, but the challenger Hiro86 was obviously a beginner. His stones didn't seem to hold much shape or meaning, and Ogata could clearly see where and when Hiro should have resigned. What he didn't understand was what Kou was thinking. The level of play was not high enough for Ogata to gauge Kou's true level and he could see glimpses of Shuusaku's influence, but the playstyle seemed rather strange. Not quite messy, and nowhere near as elegant as Sai's play, but strange. At this level, there was no way Ogata could see why Fujiwara would call Kou's style a 'brother' to his own. Also, the number of spectators was abnormal for the level of play, but that could be due to Sai's name being listed in the list of spectators.

After several minutes of pointless moves, Kou was annouced as the winner. Clearly the audience saw Hiro86 as an ameteur too, as the chat was flooded with insults and nasty comments. The net wasn't kind to new users, but there were some understanding users that supported Hiro86's courage. If Ogata had registered for Netgo as a beginner, he had little doubt he would have given up igo. That was the nature of anonymous forums. Those who chose to remain anonymous had no restraint in expressing their honest opinions. Another such example may be bulletin boards such as 2ch or even other communities such as ShougiNet.

As Fujiwara was still eating, Ogata decided to watch Kou's next match, but the space beside Kou's handle name remained blank. Without much thought, Ogata decided he may as well send a game request.

"Hmmmmm...so you are interested after all hehehe. But your request might not even make it through. Only thirty random requests can get through at a time after all." Fujiwara peered over, one hand holding his bowl and in the other he held onto his chopsticks with a half eaten piece of unagi clamped between the thin sticks.

I don't have much trust in my luck either, but maybe it'd get through. I want to see Fujiwara's shocked face, Ogata secretly thought.

One minute passed, and the two pros were left in silence staring at the small unmoving screen.

Yup, no luck as usual. That time with Sai was just a fluke. But if only I could see Fujiwara's shocked face...

＊Ping＊

 **-Kou has accepted your game request-**

"What seriously..."

"Ehhhh!? Why take his sideeeee!?"

Simultaneous tones of shock erupted from the two pros, causing a few strange looks to be directed in their direction.

"...It must've been Tou-chan...yeah, must be. There's no way Seiji-san has such good luck. Tou-chan must have wanted to see his youngest son meet his...elder son's friend...Yes that has to be it!"

Quickly recovering, Ogata waited for the game board to load while Fujiwara muttered his reassurances to himself.

The NetGo app game boards were only as large as the screen, and the grid was closely space. Due to this, it was easy for stones to be misplaced. Ogata's smartphone was not as new as Fujiwara's model and thus does not have a stylus included for pinpoint accuracy. As a result, he relies on keyed in co-ordinates when using the NetGo app.

'Kou' and 'Seiji' 's game begun with a moderate pace, as if the two were following the ticking of a clock hand. Kou started the game in defence just like the previous match, while Ogata focused on offence. Somewhere mid-match, Ogata heard a strange hum from Fujiwara but ignored it. He could kind of see where users were going when they compared Sai's go to Kou's but while Sai's go was refined and incredibly similar to Shuusaku's, Kou's go made one imagine Shuusaku's go in terms of defence and response, mixed in with something entirely different in terms of counterattacking. The way these attack patterns were mixed in the sea of defences made Ogata wonder if they were actually key stones for some sort of counter later on. But this thought soon left him as he noticed the purpose of the stones start to fade into the background and lose meaning, almost as if they were abandoned.

"...This brat...this is completely Shidougo isn't it..."

Ogata muttered in annoyance.

＊ping＊

 **-Kou has resigned-**

 **-Kou has requested a private chat window with you-**

 **-accept- -decline-**

Seeing as it was Fujiwara's 'brother' he clicked

 **-accept-** despite his irritation. Fujiwara was unnaturally quiet and obediently watched Ogata's screen.

 **Kou:** Thank you for the game. I'm sorry about the sudden change to Shidougo. I was umm...

 **Kou:** And um, I'm really sorry! And your go is very professional! Thank you for playing me!

Praising a pro of playing professionally. Are these two actually real brothers!? But Fujiwara's...brother...is unexpectedly polite...I can't even hold my irritation, Ogata admitted to himself.

 **Seiji:** Ah don't worry about it, I only realised towards the end anyways. Next time play seriously until the end.

Taking a glimpse beside him, Ogata merely sighed and sent a friend request to Kou.

 **-Seiji added Sai to the conversation-**

Immediatley Fujiwara turned back to his own phone ane started typing furiously.

 **Sai:** Did something happen with the user from before? ( ´・_・｀)

 **Kou:** Eh!? Eh? Sai-nii?

 **Sai:** Did he say something? Your bad habit even came out. I only saw it mid-game.

 **Kou:** no

 **Sai:** He did, didn't he?

 **Kou:** He didn't say anything. Seiji-san was too good so I lost

 **Kou:** ...goodnight

 **-Kou accepted your friend request-**

 **-Kou is now offline-**

Not really following what was going on, Ogata merely kept silent. From what Fujiwara said, he assumed something must have happened during the few minutes before Kou accepted his game request. There was also that matter about something happening mid-game. He recalled Fujiwara had made some reaction during the game, so he concluded it must have been around then. He just had to figure out what it was that Fujiwara saw. But judging from the conversation, Kou really did seem like a kid. And the worried form of Fujiwara beside him looked too much like a concerned elder brother. Ogata had no idea what was going on, and he didn't like it. There was something about Kou that bugged him and it wasn't limited to just his go.

＊Bbzzzttt＊

"Eh!? This mail address..."

Fujiwara's eyes widened before handing his phone over to Ogata. And what was reflected on the screen was a short text message.

 **From:** sdkou (ad) softbxnk. co .jp

 **To:** fujiwaranosai (ad) softbxnk. co .jp

 **Sub:** netgo

 **Msg:**

please tell seiji-san 'Kou owes you a game' for me.

goodnight sai-nii.

\- - - - - - - -end message- - - - - - - -

...well I guess it wasn't his personality either.

* * *

Glossary and info

Text messages: In Japan, text messages use mail addresses, and phone calls use phone numbers. Mail addresses can be changed whenever.

2ch: 2channel

Softbxnk: softbank is a japanese cellular service provider

SH7RP: Sharp brand phones are quite common...


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Since I was sick and had my phone, I decided to write another chapter...just a note, there's no set timeframe between one chapter and the next. I'll update when I feel like it hehehe. By the way, Heihachi owns a cat right? Yea, he totally has one right...I have a feeling he doesn't...but he does now...and his name is Mameko...**

* * *

 **Chapter 3:**

The next morning, Shindo Hikaru woke up to the beeping of his phone alarm, and like any other fifteen year old would do, he reached out of his mountain of blankets and turned it off before returning his hand back into his warm haven.

Only, the beeping didn't stop.

Groggily, Hikaru pulled the quilts off his head and took a glance towards his desk. The bedside clock read six thirty-three, the numbers barely visible in the unlit room.  
The clock was a simple alarm clock, a creamy white in color and took the form of a slightly angled rectangular prism. The digital digits were centered in the middle of the screen, and beside it was information regarding the temperature, the date and the day. And no matter how long Hikaru stared at it, the display showed six thirty-three AM, Saturday.

Oh how he envied the students who did not have classes on Saturdays. Maybe he should have accepted Kaiou's offer. Looking back, that school did seem like a smart school, so it wouldn't be strange if there were no Saturday lessons. Urghhh...regrets already.

Grunting, Hikaru finally sat up rubbing his eyes. The stupid alarm finally decided to listen to orders and shut up, so it was the perfect time to get up. Just in case, he grabbed the alarm and checked that he hadn't just hit snooze, and had actually turned it off. He didn't want to get back from school only to realize his alarm had been ringing at five minute intervals for the entire day.  
Satisfied, he pulled himself out of bed and got ready. And within 10 minutes he was in the kitchen deciding what to make for breakfast. Usually his grandmother would be awake and would have his lunch and breakfast ready for him, but if the post it note stuck to the fridge was any indication she had left the house early to visit a friend at her hometown. There was food on the bench, but it was only enough for one person so he decided to leave it for his grandfather. Thankfully, saturday classes only lasted half a day, so he didn't have to prepare lunch.

Ahhh!〜 I can't be bothered. I'll just get something from the convenience store, he concluded as he shut the fridge door. The only thing cookable (by his standards) took at least ten minutes to prepare, and he didn't eat much for breakfast anyway, so it would be a waste of time.

From his house to school took about thirty minutes not including the time taken waiting for the train. When his grandfather suggested to apply for Haze he had filled in the forms without much thought, but looking back, he should have at least looked at the location. Even though his primary school was only a ten minute walk from his house, Haze was three stations and a ten minute walk away. Yup, definitely should have chosen Kaiou.

When he finally arrived at his stop, Hikaru entered the nearest Familymart and picked up a bottle only green tea and a two hundred yen melon-pan before lining up at the register. Probably due to the location of the store, all the customers were Haze High students, and seeing as there was only one guy manning the cash register Hikaru took out his phone.

And almost dropped it.

"Eh eh?! What is this!?" He exclaimed in surprise.

A bit paranoid, he took a quick glance at the other people in the line, but everyone seemed to be too busy with their own phones or chatting to friends to pay him any mind. Inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to his phone.

Hikaru's smartphone was a similar model to Sai's, gifted to him by his grandfather because he 'needs a phone to contact his friends (when he finally decides to make some)' and because he needs to 'stop hogging the laptop'. Like Sai's phone, Hikaru's phone also comes with a stylus but due to inconvenience, Hikaru hardly uses it. Using the stylus required two hands, so in situations where he was waiting to pay for food, he could only operate his phone with one hand.

As expected, Hikaru's lockscreen features a rather well photographed photo of his kaya board, while icons for messaging and dialing are prioritized on the interface. In the bottom right corner of the envelope icon; where number of unread emails is usually written in thick bolded font, there was a number he had never seen before. No to be accurate, he has seen the number before in everyday situations, but never in that exact place. In the space he had never seen a number over eight, was the number 62.

Surely for someone who registers their email for alot of online accounts or has many of friends, it wouldn't be strange to find themselves over 100 unread messages, but for Hikaru who only had five mail addresses registered and a rather reliable junk mail filter, it was quite a shocking. In his address book he had his grandfather, grandmother, mother and also his childhood friend Akari registered. He hadn't seen his father since he got his phone so he was out of the question and so that left only one person.

 _Sai-nii...this is completely your fault isn't it..._

"Next customer!"

Hikaru merely sighed.

* * *

When the chime rang after fourth period, Hikaru was all but done with school. He had attempted to read some of Sai's messages, but the sheer number of them, plus the fact that they were from SAI meant that it was fine even if he didn't read them. Then there was the fact that Sai's friend decided to add his own two cents in suggesting they meet up at some salon for their rematch (using Sai's phone of course). Then multiply that by the fact that classes were as fun as they'd ever be. Oh and put a tiring round of cleaning duty in as an afterthought.

 _Urghh just let me sleep..._ Hikaru thought, as rested his forehead on the broom handle. Of all the days to get chosen for cleaning duty, it had to be the day he was the most tired.

 _I haven't had a relaxing game of go for so long my hard working attitude is crumbling. Let's just take a nap...everyone, l'll leave the rest to you..._

But before he could fall asleep (standing up), another member of the cleaning group noticed Hikaru's lack of co-operation.

"Oi, Fujisaki! Shindou's sleeping again!"

"Eh what!?"

In time with her response, Hikaru sensed Akari spin around from behind him, and his self preservation kicked in. He lifted head off the broom handle just as a hard object chopped down on his head.

"Uuguuu..."

 _Class pres, lugging Akari on me is cheating._

"Ah we'll just let him do all the sweeping. We've done the rest anyways. See ya Hikaru, have fun sweeping~"

 _What is this feeling of betrayal..._

But just as Akari said, most of the cleaning was done aside from the sweeping, but if he was the last one out, he'd have to take out the rubbish too. That served as his new motivation. Finish cleaning before the guy on rubbish duty goes home!

...But in the end, he didn't finish fast enough and had to take the rubbish down as well. Just because he almost fell asleep he had to walk down eight flights of stairs to throw out rubbish, and walk back up to get his bag, and then back down again to go home. Or at least that's what should have happened.

After washing his hands he heading towards the stairs, muttering a million complaints to the class president in his mind. But when he got to the base of the stairs, he spotted Akari waiting for him. She also held his bag and coat along with her own.

"Didn't you go home..."

Akari didn't meet his eyes as she handed him his belongings. He took them with a thanks, and put on his coat and muffler, his body finally gaining some warmth.

"Your grandpa told me to relay a message since you haven't been checking your phone. He says he won't been home since he's going to a go salon, and since you won't go to salons, he's telling you to spend time with friends until he gets home. He put emphasis on the 'friends' part you know?"

 _Stop taking a stab at my 'friend' situation! Why is everyone against me getting sleep!? Look at all the '!?' marks today!_

"...I see...thanks. I guess I'll go find a cafe or something." Hikaru muttered before turning towards the school gate. Akari merely let out a sigh and followed.

Although Hikaru and Akari are what people would call 'childhood friends', the 'friends' bit was quite a far stretch. Perhaps replacing 'friends' with 'siblings' made it easier to understand their relationship.

Hikaru and Akari were neighbors in the past, back when Hikaru still lived in his parents' home, and Akari's family took care of Hikaru when his grandparents were busy. As a result, Akari was well acquainted with Hikaru's grandparents, and had a sibling like relationship with Hikaru. That being said, she knew how to get Hikaru's attention and how to get him motivated.

"The bag delivery wasn't free. Let's do homework together."

"Eh what? Your house is too far...and I've done my homework"

"We're going to a cafe aren't we? And I haven't done my homework"

"Then what am I going to do?"

"What were you going to do at the cafe?"

"Errr, study kifu?"

"Then study kifu."

Hikaru was going to ask what the point of her coming was if she was just going to do homework alone, but decided against it. His head still hurt from earlier.

In the end, the two of them decided to secure a seat in the quiet corner of Starbucks.

"I still can't believe you didn't know where Starbucks was"

"I've never been here so how would I know? Is this place famous or something?"

"Is it famous, he says. How did you even pass geography?"

If he remembered correctly, back in junior high, one of the geography topics taught was 'Large Corporations and The Impacts of Globalization on Japan'. Somewhere during that topic, the name 'Starbucks' came up quite often. At the time, none of the companies mentioned held any familiarity with Hikaru so he just treated the entire topic as 'useless info that could be forgotten after the test'. Obviously, the 'location of the nearest Starbucks to Haze High' never reached his 'MUST REMEMBER' list.

"I only memorized the stuff the teacher said would be in the test"

"Ah...I should have known"

Sensing an eminent lecture, Hikaru decided to get back to their original topic.

"So what do you want? Hot chocolate?"

"Hehh, you're paying? I guess your social skills aren't beyond saving after all"

"Idiot, you're the one who said the bag delivery wasn't free"

For a moment Akari had a confused look on her face, but it was gone in a second and its place was mischievous smirk.

"Ohh...so it was that...I retract my previous statement. And I'll have a hazelnut latte thank you"

"What is that supposed to mean!?"

Despite the misunderstanding(?) that Akari refused to explain, Hikaru still bought her the Hazelnut latte with a slice of cheesecake, while he got himself a matcha latte. He actually wanted to get a Long Black to relieve his drowsiness, and because the green-ness of matcha didn't seem to match the image of a hard working go player, but his need for sugar overrode these thoughts.

For the next few hours, not much was said between the two as Akari had to do her homework, and Hikaru had taken out various pieces of scanned ancient looking kifu for study. Anyone who was at least a little bit acquainted with Hikaru would be able easily guess who the kifu belonged to, because without a doubt, it was Shuusaku's play.

Laid out in front of Hikaru were several pieces of paper. The largest A4 sized page was black and white in tone, and featured nothing but a blurry image of a kifu. The image was obviously a scan given from the grey crinkle and fold marks that ran acoss the page, despite the pristine condition of the page itself, while remnants of old Japanese writing were barely visible on the bottom. There were also several numbers that were barely visible, undoubtedly once used to identify the order in which stones were placed. The point was, 'not all the numbers are visible, so we do not know exactly how the game was played', and solving these small mysteries was what alot of go enthusiasts such as Sai and Hikaru have made a past time. On his right, Hikaru had a B5 sized notebook for making notes and conclusions. The notebook was mostly used up, and was filled with notes such as '12-3 was probably placed after 11-5 because if he correctly read ahead, then he would have saw white's trap at 12-4' and 'white probably could have resigned here', and the notes were made as if he was writing down all his thoughts during during studying process. To any other person, the notebook was like an answer book in jumbled order, but for Hikaru whose memory was quite extraordinary, he could remember every note he made and rearrange it in his mind to create an overall conclusion at the end.

Hikaru flipped to a new page and wrote down the date of the kifu as provided by the visible text. Then he wrote down his most obvious conclusions one by one.

'Shuusaku played black'

'Black won the game before it reached Yosei'

'The numbered stones are moves 21 to 32, as well as 42 and 49'

'8-10 looks like it may be either move 43 or 48'

And finally, the fun part is trying trying to figure how the rest of the shapes took form. To do this, one must have a good understanding of the player's tendencies, personality, ulterior motives, events that happened prior and after the game, among other things. The more information one has on the player, the easier it is to interpret the kifu.

Hikaru wasn't sure how Sai studied these kifu, but he personally referred to all of Shuusaku's numbered kifu in his memory to develop an understanding of his motives and strategies. He had tried looking for habits, but those were far and in between, and if they were that easily found, than Shuusaku's reputation wouldn't be as great as it was. He wasn't too fond of history so he didn't really rely on historic records of Shuusaku, but when he really couldn't make any conclusions and the posts on forums couldn't help, he would reluctantly search for written records online. Personality was also a choice, but Hikaru had no knowledge in psychology, nor did he plan to study it. If he had to use any personality assumptions at all, he would use Sai as the comparison point. Sai was the only living person who had managed to understand Shuusaku's go and evolve it for himself. Hikaru highly doubted Shuusaku's personality was anything near as childish as Sai's but somewhere along the line 'What would Shuusaku do in this situation' became 'What would Sai-nii do in this situation?'. The two joseki were too similar to not compare, and even if the personalities didn't match, the problem could still be solved.

 _If I didn't know Sai-nii, these would be alot harder to figure out. But wouldn't that mean, my style is not based on Shuusaku's joseki but on Sai's?_  
 _In studying Shuusaku's I can use Sai as a reference, but for Sai who has no-one, how did he manage to reach such an absurd level of understanding?_

 _As I thought, Sai-nii really is amazing._

 _Even though he acts like a kid..._

* * *

It was around eight thirty when Hikaru finally returned home. Hikaru and Akari lived at opposite directions, with Haze in the middle so they parted at the station, and Hikaru had walked home in the dark for the first time in ages. When he slid open the wooded door, he was suprised to see several pairs of unfamiliar shoes.

 _Did Jii-chan really go to the salon?_

 _...He didn't just trick me and invite his friends over did he..._

But he saved the accusations for after he has confirmed them. First thing was to find his grandmother so she knew he'd come home.

 _...and also ask who came over._

As usual, she was in the kitchen and seemingly cooking up a storm. There were quite alot of senbei of different variations cooling on the kitchen table, and the larger rice cooker had the 'cooking' light glowing orange. Even when he entered the kitchen, she didn't immediately notice. In her stead, the household calico cat Mameko called out his greeting and jumped into his arms.

"Uwahh you're back from the vet huh, Mameko tadaima"

Mameko was Jii-chan's beloved cat which he had originally gotten for Hikaru when it was still a kitten. Even so, the person who named him was unfortunately his grandfather which was why the name Mameko came to be. Even now Hikaru regretted not coming home fast enough to save Mameko from it's fate. Mame (beans), then add the fact that he's a cat(Neko), exchange the kanji and you get the name Mameko (Bean kid). When Hikaru had gotten over the origin of the name, Mameko had already gotten used to 'Mameko', leaving Hikaru to suffer the consequences.

"Ohh Karu-chan, welcome back. If you're going to the living room can you take these senbei to Jii-chan and his friends? I'm preparing dinner so i'm a bit busy at the moment."

Probably due to Mameko's welcome, his grandmother finally realised he had entered the kitchen. She put her chopping knife down and took out a basket, most likely for the senbei.

"Ah, sure. Just let me get changed first. By the way, who's Jii-chan with?"

"Hmmm...what was his name again...well Karu-chan has seen them before so you'd recognize them when you get there."

 _So they're his friends from the go salon huh._

 _I hope they don't smoke._

As usual, the shogi doors leading to the living room were closed, which kept the warmth in the room, while three pairs of slippers were lined up neatly beside the door. The living room had tatami floors, so slippers were not necessary. Hikaru too took off his slippers and placed them beside the larger ones already there.

"Jii-chan, I have your senbei" he announced while sliding open the door. He was going to address the guests too but he soon found that he didn't actually know them. No, he had 'seen' them before, but he didn't know them. No that wasn't correct either. He knew them, but he didn't know 'them'?

Because out of the three people that stared back at him, there were two that appeared to be young men in their mid-twenties, one donning long violet hair and the other, a rich blonde. The blonde guy looked particularly menacing.

"Sorry I got the wrong room!" Hikaru automatically told a big lie and shut the door in a hurry.

 _W-w-wait what's going on here!? That was Sai right? And the blond one is his friend right? Then why are they in the living room!? Huhh...I don't get it._

"At any rate, let's go back to the kitchen. Yup, that's the best choice at the moment. That guy was scary..."

Suddenly the door slid open, and the back of his hoodie was grabbed by wrinkled hands.

"Oi, where are you running off to with my senbei!"

 _Jii-chan, don't bring scary people in the house! Don't grab the back of my hoodie either! I'll die! I'll die! Don't kill me. I don't wanna die, uuuu..._

Hikaru's consciousness went into complete overdrive, and he failed to comprehend the situation. Due to this, Heihachi easily took the basket of senbei from under his arm and dragged him into the room, unanimously dumping him at the side of the kotatsu where the other two people were staring with curious eyes. Speaking of curiousness, Mameko also entered the room with me and was standing right beside where he was dumped.

 _Uuuumm...I...should introduce myself right?_

Hikaru sat up properly, and let Mameko sit on his lap before trying and impromtu introduction.

"Shi-shindo Hikaru, nice to meet you?"

Sai(?) just blinked, while the blonde raised an eyebrow. Behind him, he heard his grandfather suppress a laugh.

 _Don't laugh! Help me! I don't want to die! What do i say? I'm supposed to say something right? Eh? Eh? What do I do!? Jii-chan help me...uuuu_

Just when Hikaru was about to grab Mameko and make a run for it, maybe even kill his grandfather on the way out, a giggle erupted from the long haired guy.

"Tehehe, so this is what Kou-chan looks like in real life. You're so cute eheh."

"Tch, to think we would find you so soon. You look the same age as Akira."

The two people suddenly responded to the situation in their respective ways, promptly halting Hikaru from his escape.

"..eh?"

Unable to comprehend the situation, Hikaru could only stare questioningly as the two guys introduced themselves.

"You know me already by my handle: Sai, but my full name is Fujiwara Sai. You probably guessed that from my email though. Anyways, I really wanted to meet you for so long! Uwaah, i'm so happy!"

The violet haired guy, officially confirmed as Sai approached Hikaru. Sai's long hair was tied back into a low ponytail, while he wore a white and blue plaid shirt. Over the top he wore a v-necked sweater and wore black jeans. Hikaru had never actually seen a photo of Sai before, but just one look at Sai was enough of a proof for his identity. The guy beside beside him however, Hikaru had recognized. Sai did send him a photo of the man yesterday after all.

"Ogata Seiji, Juudan pro. I'm also the guy who played you yesterday. My handle is my first name"

The blonde's introduction was brief and to the point, which added to his stern impression. Ogata-san had wide framed rectangular glasses, and a slightly tanned skin color that deferred slightly from Hikaru and Sai's lighter skin tone. He too had a dress shirt on but with formal pants. Hikaru silently wondered if he had come here after a pro game or some formal event.

After introductions were made, they explained how they just happen to enter the same go salon as Hikaru's grandfather and saw his netgo username by chance. Apparently go salons nowadays have computer rentals as well as board rentals and coincidentally, Sai recognized Heihachi's username from Hikaru's friend list on NetGo and they got talking. Heihachi, excited about meeting such high leveled pros, decided to run his mouth about his grandson and even told them about his lack of social skills, hence the awkward introduction episode. One thing led to the next, and somehow it led to the promise that Hikaru owed them not only a game but also dinner. Thankfully his grandmother had the dinner part covered.

The next problem rose during dinner after Sai, Ogata and Hikaru had gotten properly acquainted. Hikaru had been happily eating his rice, the previous dilemmas all forgotten when Ogata suddenly piped up,

"So...Kou, when are you planning to go pro?"

 _Huh what?_

* * *

 **AN: And that was chapter three~ I forgot to mention this before, but I appreciate all the anon. reviews too! I just can't reply to them so yeah...thankyou**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** It has...been cold. But cold is good...Yeah just ignore me.

I'm writing this story in a way that the true story only comes out when you join the perspectives of Hikaru, Sai and Seiji. So if you see the connections than that means i've done it properly! Probably.

 **Note:** Net handle names refer to their online personalities

Ogata addresses everyone by their last names cos he's just like that, and Hikaru by his name because they'd get him confused with his grandfather.

Sai is on first name basis with Hikaru and sometimes calls Ogata 'Seiji' to tease him. Calling a serious person like Ogata by his first name is a bit...

 **Chapter 4:**

Be it because of Fujiwara's crazy luck, or genuinely due to coincidence, Ogata and Sai had somehow managed to enter the same neighborhood as the very player they were searching for. Ogata had coincidently glanced at the computer screen of some old man playing NetGo, and then due to some twist of fate, said old man was playing under the same handle as what Fujiwara recognized as Kou's 'friend'. Turns out this 'friend' not only happened to be their fan, but also the grandfather of Kou, which somehow led to them being invited for dinner. Yes truly a coincidence. If he didn't know any better he would question if god wanted to make up for a bad past life or something.

The old man introduced himself as Shindou Heihachi, and self proclaimed teacher of 'Kou'. Ogata didn't voice his doubts but after searching up a few of SDHH's kifu on the way to Kou's house, he failed to draw the connection. It would be far more believable if he said Kou was Sai's disciple, but of course that too was far from the truth. How Kou reached such a level at fifteen years old, was still somewhat unbelievable. Even if Kou had been secretly taught by Sai, just a couple of years would not let anyone get anywhere near Sai's level. Of course Fujiwara would deny this given how long he's know Kou, but that didn't give any explanation to what influenced his go. And it wasn't just the skill and style of go that was problematic. His habits and tendencies were also quite abnormal.

When he and Fujiwara finally arrived at Kou's house, he was pretty surprised to find that they were led to a pretty traditional Japanese home. In this age, most Japanese people lived in apartments and modern houses, so it was refreshing to find that there were still houses with sliding wooden front doors in Tokyo. The interior wasn't much different from the outer appearance, and most of the doors were either shogi or simply an open doorframe. The floors were also either floorboards or tatami, which was a far cry from both his and Fujiwara's apartments. If he had to compare, he'd say that it'd most resemble the Touya residence, where which his weekly study sessions were held. The only thing out of place was the TV…and the laptop. Especially the laptop. What sort of sixty or seventy old man owned their own laptop in 2015? Apparently the Shindou's only owned one laptop, so Shindou Heihachi usually got privileges while Kou was left with his phone. That apparently answered Fujiwara's question on how Kou and SDHH played each other on Netgo.

As Shindou had invited them over to meet their grandson, he had informed them Kou was out with a friend and he'd be back before dinner. He seemed relatively pleased with himself when he mentioned 'friend' but Ogata just left it alone. He admitted he could be nosey when it came to Go, but he didn't have much of an interest in his opponent's daily lives. So when he voiced his interest in Kou's go, both Fujiwara and Shindou turned to him with glowing smiles. If he was anyone else, he would have taken a step back, but he was Ogata Seiji. He simply rose an eyebrow. Ogata had planned to just look through Kou's NetGo game history for old Kifu, but as it was still relatively early in the afternoon, Shindou suggested they'd replay the games while they wait for Kou.

Fujiwara was quick to agree after he spotted the kaya board, and didn't even change his mind after Shindou gave the alternative of setting up a wooden board on the kotatsu. The Shindou's had quite the variety of board choices.

Well there was also the fact that Fujiwara grabbed onto his sleeve and wouldn't let go, but that's beside the point. Reluctantly, Ogata put his phone back into his pocket and got comfortable in the kotatsu. In the end, he wasn't too picky as long as he could play go. He and Fujiwara were quite similar in that aspect.

Paku

paku

paku

The game that was being replayed was one of many recorded into Fujiwara's memory and was the first match Fujiwara had played against Kou. As expected, Kou had lost terribly and the small influences of Shuusaku's joseki were not anything noteworthy.

At that time Kou had only been at Netgo for two years, while Sai was just starting. Sai had not understood much about the Netgo ranking system at the time and challenged any user that popped up on his list. One of these had been Kou, and after a devastating loss, Kou struck a conversation with Sai. Similar to his match with Ogata, he had simply thanked Sai for the match, but instead of going with the flow Sai requested Kou's help with learning about the workings of Netgo. Strangely Kou had agreed and they were soon registered as friends, but the two barely played each other and only engaged in casual conversations. It was around that time that Sai was found by Seiji and made a place for himself in the outside world of Go, leaving Kou to grow alone on the net.

Fujiwara cleared the board.

"Now tell me what you think after watching this game"

Three years after their first meeting, Kou asked Sai for another game. It was a seemingly bad game for white, and the final shape was erratic. Black had won by three moku without komi, just going by the result, but it was a game where the process seemed far more interesting than than the result. White had begun the match steadily as any pro would against Sai, but as the game progressed Kou began to make mistakes; a couple in one cluster and a couple in another. It was obvious that some of the mistakes were traps, but Sai had thought the others were generally mistakes due to mistakes in predicting Sai's moves. Still, Sai had applauded Kou for improving so much in such a short time. To be able to set up believable traps against a pro was not something everyone could do. Beginners who liked to go for the tricky play-styles tended to lay individual traps everywhere with few that were thought more than three or four moves ahead. Kou was different in that regard and had read ahead almost eight to ten moves ahead with little inaccuracy. The only thing that he didn't count for was, traps didn't work on a player that was at a higher level than you. Or so he had thought.

What Sai hadn't known at the time was that, Kou too, was a Shuusaku enthusiast. He had been studying Shuusaku's kifu everyday since he was eleven and was more than aware that Shuusaku didn't fall for traps. But Sai was not Shuusaku.

It wasn't until mid-game that Sai had realized his mistake. The traps he had seen initially were nothing more than divergences, and the mistakes were the true traps. Even calling the initial stones 'traps' wasn't quite accurate. You could say it was the perfect copy of Shuusaku's joseki in the form of a counter-defense; a defense so strong that it prevents you attacking and forces you into defense. The previous 'trap stones' were self imposed hinderances to his defense, shaped to seem like a weak attack. Kou utilized a pro's reassurance of their own ability to spot traps and quickly disable them in order to manipulate them into ridding him of the stones hindering his own plan to taking form. Of course, a counter-defense could only rake in as much stones as the opponent's skill, and the more the opponent fell for his 'trap-stones' the more stones Kou would gain. That being said, the earlier the opponent realized, the lesser the power of the counter. Sai was probably the worst, yet also the best opponent for this style due to familiarity with Shuusaku's kifu. Consequently, Sai's keen eye for elaborate traps made the game end in Hikaru's loss.

But that didn't mean that the style would be useless against those who are familiar with it. Spotting an actual trap among Kou's fake traps, Shuusaku style responses and confusing patterns was as easy as spotting an eight among a million zeroes. At first you'd think it's easy, but then you'd ponder on whether the analogy was intended for computers. What was the difference between a digital eight and a digital zero? Well does this font have zeros with a strike through it or without? Are you talking about binary or digits? Kou had developed a style that was both complex and ambiguous. The style that was compared to Sai's own on the net was merely the surface of what Sai had seen in Kou's go. He could say that Kou had reached a style that had surpassed his own understanding of Shuusaku's joseki. And from that day on, he adopted Kou as his younger brother, not in reference to ability or in family, but because Kou's go was so greatly influenced by Shuusaku that it was like watching a younger version of himself...well kind of.

That go that Sai saw from Kou was what he wanted to show Ogata. Kou was pretty well known on the net but those who could see his real potential were few. He wasn't famous enough for pro's challenge him, and he was pretty sure that with Kou's personality, he wouldn't agree even if he asked him to go pro. But

that's where Ogata comes in. Ogata had somehow managed to find Sai after playing him twice in Netgo, and force someone like him to become pro with little effort at all. That being said, Sai had a lot of hope in him. Being able to find Kou, or his grandfather at least, within a day was something that only Ogata could do. He still believed that part of it was Shuusaku's fault though.

pachi

The final stone rung with a defined sound even on the low quality board. A clear sound that only an experienced player could produce so brilliantly.

Sai closed his fan and turned towards Heihachi and Ogata.

"This is second game I played with Kou three years after we met"

Ogata and Heihachi had watched Sai play out the entire game and both showed different expressions. While Heihachi who was familiar with Kou's style was once again, pondering on how his grandson had developed such a crazy play-style, Ogata was staring at the board desperately trying to figure out where Kou had started reading ahead, and to what move he had read up to in order to come up with such a deeply well thought out counter. If Kou's full style had such depth and reading ahead, then he may have already fallen in Kou's trap before Kou had started to play Shidougo. Ogata had seen the trap like stones, but how he responded to them was almost the same as Sai. He had disabled the traps before they had taken effect. But what if in doing so, he had already taken one step into securing Kou's plans? Would he have realized fast enough to avoid the full blow of the counter or would he have realized fast enough to maintain his lead? Kou had a style that accented this question.

"This stone, this one, these three, and these seven were the obvious traps that he set up to hinder his own plan. If I hadn't realized before I disabled the last two, I probably would have lost."

Sai admitted while pointing to each stone. Kou's play was like a network, with many stones that branched out like a web, layers of traps overlapping and hidden so that when one layer was disabled, he could move onto another. If you saw all the layers you could save yourself, but if you couldn't then it would be the end.

"It was this stone"

Ogata pointed to a single black stone.

"When you first put it down, I couldn't understand it at all, but when you put down the second stone, the massive block that appeared in Kou's plan could be seen. To think this was played by a kid…"

It was strange for Ogata to praise someone openly, but that was the extent of skill that the kid name Kou had shown in the match against Sai. Even though the game was played almost a year or two ago, Sai's skill level at the time was by no means low. Even back then, Sai would happily go head to head with the Meijin if he had the chance. But the point of the first match Sai had shown him was for comparison. Before he had seen the second game, the first game had just looked like an amateur who was learning to use traps. He would set it here and there, and little connection could be seen between them. Naturally Sai had mercilessly disabled all the traps. But seeing the second game, a new questioned surfaced in his mind. What if Sai hadn't disabled all of the 'traps'?

"Shindou, when did your grandson start studying Shuusaku's kifu?"

Heihachi brought a finger to his chin and opted a makeshift thinking pose.

"Mnnn...probably sometime in primary school?"

"Then how old is he now?"

"15 this year. He definitely studied Shuusaku before he got a Netgo account though. I did introduce him to Netgo after he spent too much time studying kifu after all"

If Kou really studied Shuusaku before he played Sai, then the chance that Kou had been developing his go style since before he played Sai was large. If there was really a network beyond the random stones seen in the first game, not even Ogata could make any sense of it. Of course, there was a chance they were just looking too much into it. Kou did play the match almost four years ago, so it was unlikely that the style would have progressed so smoothly.

"Wait, Kou is 15 this year, so when did he start go?"

"Ahh, well Hikaru isn't very social so he's been at it everyday since he was five or six. Of course he does other stuff too so i imagine he's not too similar to the Meijin's son. That kid wouldn't take the insei exam when i registered for him, and he didn't even considered the pro exam. So if you're planning on bringing him into the Go world, i wish you luck"

So i was right...Sai thought inwardly. He was glad he had Ogata on his side, because he doubted there was anyone with better luck than Ogata when looking for talents on Netgo. He could make a living as a Go scout! ...or something. Kou needed to get some acknowledgment before his habit gets any worse. Oh yeah, Shindou-san said 'Hikaru' didn't he? Hikaru...Kou...Ohhh!

"Hikaru is your grandson's real name then?"

Ogata asked for confirmation. It seemed each one of them used some variation of their name for their handle. Well two of them didn't even bother with the varying part though.

"Karu-chan's handle is Kou. Are you two young men...Karu-chan's friends?" A new voice suddenly piped up from behind Sai causing him to voice his surprise. She was a little short in stature with grey-ish hair and a kind smile. From her appearance you could easily see she was Heihachi's wife. In her hands she had a tray with 3 cups and a teapot, and her apron was proof that she was cooking.

"Eh you were home? Okaeri"

"Tadaima, I got home a while ago but everyone seemed busy. Karu isn't home yet?"

Heihachi pointed his hand at his wife, and started introductions.

"I tricked him into hanging out with Akari. Anyways, this is my wife Shindou Kumiko"

"Nice to meet you two, you can call me Kumiko if you want. Calling us by our last name would be too confusing"

"And these two are Hikaru's friends from Netgo. They're go pros"

"We'll be in your care Kumiko-san. My name is Fujiwara Sai, and this is Ogata Seiji. We both met Kou online"

"Nice to meet you Kumiko-san"

Ogata joined in.

"Oh, you must be the 'Sai' who Karu always talks to online. Thank you for taking care of him all the the time" she bowed.

"Ah no no, Kou is always fun to talk to and it seems like he's the one taking care of me all the time eheheh"

Silently Ogata agreed. Kou took care of Sai's whining for him, more than Sai took care of Kou and if he didn't know any better he would think Sai was the younger one.

"Oh? Didn't Karu play this game last year? So Fujiwara-kun was the opponent huh. No wonder Karu's were seen through so early on. He was complaining how his best plan was tramped on so easily in the fourteenth move or something. Ahh, so it was a pro huh...that's reassuring"

Although Kumiko was just drawing her personal conclusions, her soft words struck a chord in the two pros.

Huh fourteenth? But i didn't...

Sai drew a sharp breath,

I guess luck is also a skill

Ogata merely sighed.

After an episode of confusion and general chaos, the family of three plus two pros were sat at a dinner table, bowl of rice in one hand, and chopsticks in another. Casual conversation was thrown around effortlessly, while Fujiwara seems to get on almost too well with Shindou Heihachi. Shindou Kumiko joined the conversation occasionally with a full smile and showed some uncanny familiarity for a housewife who doesn't play go. If Ogata compared Shindou Kumiko with Touya Meijin's wife, he could easily see that Kumiko-san's knowledge regarding the go world, and the game itself was rather special.

Both Shindou Heihachi and Shindou Kumiko were relatively updated about the go world, but for some reason Shindou Hikaru has managed to reach his high level of go without any more than the basic outline of how the Go world works. Ogata couldn't sit still and let such a player out of his grasp. He was going to bring the kid into the official go world be it kicking and screaming.

"So Kou...when are you planning to go pro?"

Ogata asked abruptly. He noted the conversation to his right stopped almost immediately.

The room was silent aside for the soft hum of the heating and the withheld breaths made the atmosphere alot more deafening than it should be.

However Shindou Hikaru wasn't exactly hesitant to answer. The silence was only concerning to those who couldn't influence his final decision. But he was the one that had to make the decision, so he was more than certain that the result would be the same as the other four times he was asked. In his opinion, everyone was being too suspenseful; too hopeful to consider that perhaps there were others that had far more potential than him. Just being able to understand Shuusaku's play style, remember a couple dozen kifu in a week and reading a little ahead when playing didn't automatically qualify as pro material. There were things like thinking spontaneously and responding in a way that diverts the opponent's attention that he, as an amateur online player has not fully grasped. Surely some other NetGo players who had flooded game request lists could do better in a pro exam than him?

"Where did that come from? Do you

normally ask opponents you've defeated, when they're going pro?" Hikaru replied, without so much as looking at Ogata. Instead, he picked more vegetable and placed them into his bowl.

"You didn't play seriously against me so i referenced Sai's games. The skill you showed in your second game with Sai could rival with higher dans. There's no reason to rely on Netgo when you can climb the ranks with the other pros."

"If you study Shuusaku too, then you're looking for it too aren't you. The 'Hand of God'."

"Ah..."

Fujiwara too agreed steadily.

The 'Hand of God' was a play so beautiful, so breath-taking that it could only belong to a god. It was a play that almost every pro dreamt of seeing ever since ancient times. Shuusaku too was an avid believer of this legend, and he was said to be the man that got closest to achieving the mysterious hand. That made all of those who studied Shuusaku's kifu inspired to follow the footstep of the great go sage, and seek the Hand of God. Unmistakeable, both Sai and Kou who had inherited Shuusaku's joseki sought to witness the hand ie their lifetime.

"While it's true that i'm interested in the Hand of God, at the same time it isn't my first priority,"

This earned several looks of surprise from Fujiwara and the Shindous', but Ogata's expression did not change.

"If it's Sai, then surely you've figured it out already. The joseki I developed...isn't intended for winning, and yet...i think this Joseki just might let me witness the 'Hand of God'"

That was Hikaru's honest opinion and the sole reason why he chose to stick with Netgo. If player entered the professional circuit, they'd be too caught up with competitions and opponents of similar level that they'd lose sight of the fun of playing go. Go wasn't about winning, it wasn't about earning titles, nor was it about making a living. So how could going pro get him any closer to achieving the 'hand of god'?

The pro world is limited to the go players who don't mind their lives going public along with their go. But that sort of world isn't suitable for everyone. Something like only playing players you've been assigned and never being able to play those who have been gauged as a 'higher dan' to you? How would this help one reach the hand of god? If Sai believes going pro would be the fastest way, then Hikaru would choose the alternative. Even he wasn't the one to achieve that hand, maybe one day, within those pixels on his phone, or within the countless players he has played against, he would witness the hand of god.

For the two closest to Shuusaku's ideals, attack and defense; these two styles were what they believed to be the foundation of fulfilling the million year old legend.

――

 **AN:** I had to rewrite the end. I think I was going somewhere with that before but I can't remember so I had to change it.


	5. Chapter 5

AN:  
Sorry for the long wait. Exams are finally over and I have time to write! But I admit to buying a mountain of light-novels and completely forgetting about this story. Sorry! I think i can't make proper english sentences anymore…

I also had to secretly rewrite the end of the 4th chapter as I had no idea where I was going with it. Nothing much changed but yeah…yeah…

formatting like bold, italics and spacing isnt working for me at the moment so...sorry about that too

Chapter 05

Somewhat early on a Sunday morning, both Hikaru and his grandfather were on their respective devices tapping away at their own games.  
While Heihachi was on one side of the kotatsu scrolling through the Go Association webpage, Hikaru was sprawled on the ground on the other side of the Kotatsu fiddling with his phone.

The Shindou residence had no source of heating other than the Kotatsu, and on cold windy winter days, the entire family would huddle together in the living room. Drinking hot drinks was also common on these days.  
Shindou Heihachi too, liked drinking his hot tea while he surfed the net. So when he reached to take a sip, only to realize the cup was empty, he called for his grandson.

"Oi Hikaru, can you go get me some tea?" 

Not looking up from his phone, Hikaru replied simply. 

"The batch you just had was the last" 

"Then can you get me some sake?" 

"We don't have any" 

"Can you go buy some?" 

"I'm underage" 

"Then go buy some more tea leaves" 

Hikaru pushed himself off the floor and looked up towards the tabletop. His own teacup was as empty as his grandfather's, but he didn't remember taking a sip at all. His grandfather must have drank it while he wasn't looking.

"…after I finish this game"

The game lasted another thirty minutes, and after getting changed into warmer clothes his grandfather handed him his bag at the door. His grandfather who wouldn't even abandon the kotatsu for a good quality go board, handed him his bag.  
At. The. Door….

In the first place, why did he need his bag if he was only going to the convenience store? and to buy tea leaves…

Slightly suspicious, Hikaru slowly took his bag and headed out the door, eying his grandfather with narrowed eyes.

He won't do something ridiculous like locking me out in the middle of winter. Would he?

Turns out his grandfather was more than happy to play the devil's incarnate because when he arrived home with five packs of tea leaves, the doors were locked, the lights were turned off, and his keys were taken out of his bag without his knowledge.

Good thing I got changed. Does he want me to get hypothermia or something…Hikaru though with some annoyance. This wasn't the first time he had been locked out of the house, but all the previous times it had been spring or autumn, and there were no immediate threats to his health.

"In times like this…"  
Hikaru reached into his bag and took out his phone.

From: shindouHH(ad) .jp  
To: sdkou(ad) .jp

Hikaru,

I left the house for the go-salon so you can either come find me here, or go meet your FRIENDS. I'll probably be back around 9 because I'm eating out.

Grandpa.

PS. I turned off the wifi

True to his grandfather's words, the wifi symbol on his phone was completely greyed out so he couldn't even access NetGo unless he went somewhere with slightly more reception than his front yard. Hikaru inwardly sighed as he placed his hands in his pockets.  
"Okay I get it, i get it…I'll go somewhere."

Quickly glancing into his bag, he confirmed all his kifu an study materials were in his bag before dialing a familiar number. The phone buzzed a few times before it connected.

"Hey Akari, where are you at the moment?"

"Hikaru? I'm with my friends but, do you need something?"

"I got locked out"

Sounds of muted snickering could be heard from the other side before Akari voiced her amusement.

"This is what, the fourty-something-eth time? Anyways, good luck with that, gotta go. See ya~"

And Hikaru was left with the beeping of an ended call. Was his misfortune really that amusing? he wondered as he stared at his phone.

"I guess I'll just go somewhere alone then"

Just like every other student his age, who didn't know that there was a Starbucks in town, would do, Hikaru found himself seated on a swing at a nearby park. Sometime between when he left his house and when he arrived at the park, it had started snowing. The white flakes floated down from the blinding white skies and coated everything in a blanket of white cotton. Hikaru's navy colored coat and hair too was no exception, so he refrained from taking out his kifu and opted with sitting on the swing and blankly watching the snow transform from tiny dots, into intricate snowflake designs. In some slightly more open areas that were free from the coverage of trees and shrubs, rocks transformed from grey to white as if it were a giant go stone.

Thats right…When I play Sai-nii…I've always played white haven't i?

Hikaru watched the smaller pebbles near the swing slowly lose its color as specks of snow coated it. A black stone that gradually loses its place on the board as it transformed to a white stone. A black stone that looses its significance in its offense and is given meaning on the white canvas.

When Hikaru as small he always thought that playing go was like making your own night sky; your own universe. The emptiness of the board created the canvas, while the opponent's black stones created the space that allowed his own white stone stars to shine in the night sky. But looking at it now, laying traps was no different from laying his own blanket of snow on a snowy night. The snow falls freely, melting and merging with the old blanket. When other's melt, new snow falls and takes its place. When a pebble blocks its path, it merely piles ontop until it gradually achieves its goal.

Hopping off the swing, Hikaru grabbed a small stick and crouched to ground level.

Using the snow coated asphalt as a canvas Hikaru lightly etched fourteen stones from memory and paused.

If that time with Sai, what I was making was not a universe but a world of white…

He gripped the stick as a smile gradually spread across his face.

wouldn't it have been so much more interesting?

A spec of snow here,

another there,

here,

and here,

and yet another blanket has been formed.

Blanket after blanket,

merging and melting…a chain effect.

Somewhere along the way Hikaru stopped drawing Sai's moves and merely played them in his mind while his stick moved slowly. Shape after shape was formed, and yet what was drawn onto the snow was not a kifu for one-colored go. It was a trap in its full glory, a blanket on snow that has completely coated the ground; as if a blizzard or an avalanche had just passed. It was a go game where white had completely and utterly obliterated its opponent.

"Makemashita"

A voice as soft as falling snow sounded from above him, and for the first time he noticed the shadow that hovered over his canvas.

"…Sai?"

Hikaru paused, the stick still in hand, as he looked up, still in a hunched position.

Sai, knees slightly crouched held his umbrella over Hikaru and smiled.

"Hehe"

—

"So…how come you were at the park? I didn't know Sai-nii lived nearby"

Hikaru asked as he dried his hair with a towel. Currently he was a few streets away from the park in Sai's apartment.  
He had been pretty surprised when someone had voiced out to him at the park in such a snowing morning and even more surprised when he found that he recognized the voice.

"I was actually looking for you,"

Hikaru inclined his head. He didn't recall receiving any messages from Sai, but he HAD been immersed in his game in the snow

"I hope you're fine with hot cocoa"

Sai said as he placed a two steaming hot cups of cocoa on the coffee table infront of the sofa. Beside it, he placed a plate of cookies to compliment the drinks. Hikaru nodded.

"You weren't on NetGo for most of the day, and I didn't have a match today so I thought I could come find you at your house. But when I arrived, the lights were off and there didn't seem to be anyone home"

That was because I was locked out as soon as I came home from buying tea, Hikaru voiced his complaints in his mind. If he hadn't been without a key, he would undoubtedly be warm at home happily playing NetGo or studying kifu. But no, he couldn't even get in the house even if he wanted to.

"So when I walked around the neighborhood and saw a kid without an umbrella alone at the park, i walked over to make sure they wouldn't catch a cold. But to think that Kou-chan was that kid. I was so surprised hahah"

"Well i'm sorry for being a kid"

To think that Sai would go up to strangers playing in the snow to prevent them from catching colds. Hikaru's evaluation of Sai rose slightly. So he isn't completely a Go nut.

"But it's better this way! If Karu-chan wasn't a kid then I wouldn't be able to have a younger brother!"

Karu…Kou…?  
Hikaru had felt something was weird when Sai and Ogata came over the other day, but he didn't grasp it until now. Sai called him 'Kou' when he was talking to him and switched to 'Karu' or 'Hikaru' when he was talking to his grandparents. But his grandparents knew his handle so there was no real need to keep switching around.

"Kou or Hikaru, choose one. It's hard to respond when my name keeps changing with each sentence"

Sai picked up his cup and blew on it slightly before taking a sip.

"Hmm…then I'll stick with 'Kou-chan'"

Hikaru hummed in acceptance and rummaged through his bag before taking out two shrink compressed packets of tea leaves. He had bought five because the Shindou residence were large fans of green tea, but since his grandfather decided it would be funny to lock him out, he could do without his portion.

"You can have this"

"Ah thank you! But to think Kou-chan carries tea packs with him all day"

No I don't! What sort of strange image do you have of me!?

"…"

Wait this is the first time I've been to anyone but Akari's house! What am I supposed to do after greeting them? Wait, am I even supposed to say something?

Hikaru looked up at Sai who was standing up with his own cup of Hot Cocoa in hand. Sai met his gaze and smiled.

"So…let's play a game!~"

"Huh? Ah…okay?"

Something tells me this isn't the normal procedure…but meh. If it's not cold, and I can play go then anywhere is fine. As long as it's not a go salon, Hikaru thought offhandedly as he followed Sai to the goban.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

.

"Makemashita"

Hikaru bowed his head an announced his defeat. The style he was developing was starting to take shape but getting the layers of his traps to connect while he defended himself from Sai's offenses was alot of difficult than he had officially planned. Sometimes he would be able to read ahead enough for him to create a few layers of traps, but then Sai's offense would cut it off before he could strengthen it. This caused him to abandon many of his traps midway and make new ones. If he could somehow train himself to picture more situations and read further ahead, even his failures could work to his advantage. If he could use his opponents offenses as within his own traps…Yes, just like that game. That fresh snowfield he had created that day. It was like solving a tsumego with a trap within a game. Instead of searching for a winning move or getting out of a sticky situation, he needed to be able to think of layered traps for every situation. That was the only way to coat the entire board with the snow he adored so much.

Suddenly he felt a strong grip on his shoulder and swung his head around by instinct.  
With one hand on his shoulder and the other on the bridge of his glasses, one glared at him with an evil glint.

"Uwah!"

So scary! Ogata…Seiji right? What does this guy want…when did he get here…

He must have had made a weird face because Sai suddenly started laughing.

"Haha. Your match ended already?"

"Fujiwara, if Shindou Hikaru does not sign up for this year's pro exam, lets bring in Akira." Ogata announced while standing up.

Ogata had the key to Fujiwara's apartment due to the many times where Fujiwara would not answer the door when in the middle of a NetGo game or for some reason or another. That's why when there was no reaction after ringing the doorbell three times, he decided to let himself in. But instead of there being a single pair of shoes at the entrance, he was surprised to find another much smaller pair beside Fujiwara's own.

It's Kou's. No doubt about it. He quickened his pace and peered into the living room. Unless Fujiwara had adopted a son or miraculously maintained a student with his quirky personality he needed to find out who ASAP. Before the kid was scarred for life. But as soon as he spotted Kou's unique blonde and brunette hair, he knew it could be no-one else.

As he got closer he knew why nobody answered the doorbell. Both Kou and Fujiwara were in the middle of a game. If he didn't know any better he would have concluded that Fujiwara was in the lead, but knowing Kou's weird style, he didn't make any assumptions. There was no telling what was around the corner. Ogata silently took a seat on the side and watched the shapes take place slowly.

Ogata has seen a few of Kou's completed games and a few of his kifu, but the style was quite unpredictable. Just watching the game between the two, he could see traps being deactivated but he couldn't see them being placed. It was only after a few moves that he would see a trap take place or realize when one of fujiwara's moves had worked to his disadvantage. But Kou had a style that got you paranoid. Was what he was seeing all there was to his plan? These sort of questions filled his mind, and made his blood boil in excitement. If this sort of player was to appear in the pro circuit, just what sort of impact would it have on those traditional plays?

With such thoughts running through his mind, Ogata wasted no time as Hikaru announced his defeat.

"Fujiwara, if Shindou Hikaru does not sign up for this year's pro exam, lets bring in Touya Akira."

As a member of Touya Meijin's study group he was more than aware how much of a talent the Meijin's son Touya Akira was in the go world. He was straight forward and not that different from Fujiwara in terms of being a go-addict. He didn't know if Hikaru was as obsessed as Akira was, but he was sure that if Touya Akira was introduced to someone his own age with abilities far above his own, he would chase them across town just to face them across the goban. With that sort of enthusiasm even Hikaru wouldn't be able to deny him. Hopefully.

"Ah that's right, Akira was going to take the pro exam this year too. Kou-chan should sign up too!" Sai suggested with gleaming eyes.

But before Hikaru could deal with the pro exam problem, he had one thing he needed to know.

"Who is this Touya Akira anyways?"

In the end, Ogata and Sai dragged Hikaru off for dinner after hearing (and laughing) about him not being able to go home until past nine. Taking it as an opportunity, they also gave him an hour lecture about the go world and all its 'important people' (and their family). But after ten minutes, Hikaru concluded that he couldn't care less and he should save his brain space thinking of better traps rather that remembering the names of some foreign go players whose names he couldn't even pronounce. If Sai introduces him to this Touya Akira guy, it better be on NetGo, because he doesn't want some guy he doesn't know the face of, chasing him around town. If it was NetGo, he didn't care who it was, he would play them without discrimination.

Speaking of which,  
"If it's the pro exam, then I'm already registered"

Well technically it was Jii-chan, but same difference.

In response, Sai let out a surprised "Eh?" and Ogata almost spat out his soup.

"Eh eh!? What? When? Where? How!?"  
If Sai was an anime character, he'd probably have swirls in his eyes.

"I was also registered for last years, and the year before that" Hikaru announced as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You have to have a pro's recommendation in order to register. How did you, who didn't even take the insei exam, get registered?" Ogata eyes him. Ogata had no doubt that if what Hikaru said was true, he didn't attend a single of those three pro exams.

"I wasn't the one who filled the form. Ask Jii-chan" Hikaru answered uncaringly as he slurped his grabbed his ramen with his chopsticks. True to Ogata's thoughts, Hikaru's grandfather has registered him or the pro exam and the insei exams many times but he somehow managed to find excuses to not attend each time. Hikaru had no intention of going pro so he was going to be as stubborn as he could in regards this matter.

The next morning Ogata Seiji made his way to the Go Association receptionist with one goal in mind. Hikaru had made the shocking announcement that he HAD been registered for the pro exam. Only he had absolutely no intention of attending. Thats where Akira comes in. If Hikaru really has been registered, all he had to do was perk Akira's interest and everything was fall in place.

"Ah Ogata-sensei! Good Morning, how can I help you?" the receptionist greeting with her business smile.

"Ah regarding the go-exam, I would like to recommend someone" Ogata replied while glancing at the entrance. It was still eight in the morning, and there wasn't many people around aside from some pros and inseis who wanted to do some early morning kifu study.

"It's strange to see Ogata-sensei interested in an insei when everyone else has got their eyes on Touya Akira"

"Not an insei, an ordinary civilan"

"Not an insei you say? Can I have a name?" The reception asked with her hands ready on the keyboard, ready to search the database.

"Shindou Hikaru, an high-schooler around the same age as Akira"

"If it's Shindou Hikaru, as in Shindou Heihachi's grandson then he's already registered. His name has been registered in the system every year but he's never showed up in the exam. Some examiners wonder if he even exists but the other receptionist apparently saw him with Shirakawa-sensei" the receptionist answered with a curious expression. Judging from how she didn't even need to type in Hikaru's name, Ogata confirmed the validity of Hikaru's claim.

"Tch that kid…" Ogata muttered under his breath as he took out his phone.  
He had taken a picture of the completed game between Fujiwara and Hikaru and remembered the games Fujiwara had replayed. It should be more than enough to reel Akira in.

Quickly opening his email, Ogata attached the photos he took yesterday and sent them to Akira's email. It was just past eight so there was no doubt that Akira was awake.

The response came no more than a few minutes later.

"What is this game!?"

Hook.

"Fujiwara and a friend of his"

"Who played white?"

Line.

"A player named Kou, he's not pro"

The next thing he knew, his phone was showing the 'incoming call' screen.

Ogata slid his finger across the 'answer call' key.

"Hello?"

"Did you see the game!? How was it played!? I can't figure out how it was played at all!"

And sinker.

The go world is going to get a whole lot more interesting.


End file.
